Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-04-10

AZ our kAFEeI elHtE4 Eu6 LsHttNaA OF
Easter grows IN interest and beauty
every year. Ia some streets OF New
York a. this geasop the trveled stranger
might well ask, Where am IL Is this
Parish
Ia the shop window the egg IL the
leading object; flowers abound every
where, ss veil In the streets s. In the
churches. O. where we may IN the
world. even beyond tie confines Of
| Christendom, We shall find that eggs
and flowers are the favorite enblems Of
| the great feast Of the spring, the season
which 10 itself wondEoas Eesnrreetton.
The music of GFscs Church chimes
floats along Broadway; the sound Of
| bells, the pesiing Of organs; The fra
GRANGE and beauty of numbefiess how-
err; the blOssoming ont Of bevles Of
spring bouBets like beds of erocuses;
thousands 81 dainty cards stuffing fat
| the bags Of the l. tier carriers; windows
Of florists cleaning With tall white lilies;
toy shops filed with lfe-like rabbits;
/ auffy chickens and nests of eggs. de-
| lighting the eyes Of ehiidEen-this il
Easter 10 Mes York.
IL il, indeed, like Paris, for there, too,
outside Of the magnificent ceremonial
Of the churches. the Easter egg Is the
ruling emblem. Everybody gives, and
everybody receives, this traditionsTy
token, endless IN fern and ingenious N
device, rs oalg Freedmen could make
IL.
There are eggs of decorated satin ;,
oiled With candies; eggs made entirely
Of candy; eggs hidden In baskets Of
flowers Or bonbons; eggs which contain
mechanical dacklinRs that pop out With
q gstaek when spring IL touched; eggs
of silver. that are match safes or ink
stands; eggs Of painted porcelain; com
mon hons eggs dyed in gay colors; eggs
that prove to be jewel easkets, satin
lined and containing lOcket or a ring.
Peep into the window Of one of our
| fashionable confeetioneFs, and many of
these varieties will meet the eye. Il is
glimpse of @ Partisan EasteF-teh
same. only infinitely less.
In the Russian Easter, also, the egg
plays great part. The poorest peas
anita have their red Easter eggs on THAI
day, while materials Of every degree Of
richness are employed by the wealthieE
Glasses.
Crystal eggs engraved with flowers
and notices were &C one time bestowed
by the Gar upon his o0urtiers. Other
customs are peculiar to the country.
Persons meeting each other make use
of a regular formula Of salutation and
reply.
Christ hath risen" exelaims one.
"He hath indeed" resp nds the other.
Then, II they are friends, they kiss
each other rapidly three times on the
right and left cheek alternately.
| II IL considered perfectly proper for
gentlemen and ladies who are but
slightly acquainted TO exchange Easter
greetings OF this loving kind. Formerly
it was also the custom between ssFanR.
| ers, as 10 was intended to signify the
universal brotherhood Of man.
Ia Moscow, the City of Bells, the
Easter ceremonies are especially i'm.
pressive. On Easter Eve an immense
crowd. comprising peasants, CcssAeks,
soldiers, merchants aud mobiles, In their
various pietusesque costumes, gather
every year within and around the 0 4th
edFal in the kremlin, each person hold
lag lighted taper, and waiting patient
ly till midnight. lheH, as the clock
strikes twelve, the priest announces
he Is riseH."
Immediately the huge. asep-toned
bell in the tower Of Ivan the Great be
gins TO toll, aud sill the ioumerable bells
throughout the city break into q merry
responsive peal, while the cannon of the
fortress join the diH. Loud as the tn
mult becomes, nothing can drown the
voice OF che great bell. which goes 90
booming solemnly through 10 all.
Later, Easter cakes are blessed by the
priests aud distributed among the
people.
The use ef eggs il one Of the most
characteristic OF Eastern rites. Oar
SAX u ancestors. on celebrating the an.
nnAi festival Of Easter, the goddess OF
spfins. used eggs 10 symbolic the
sprinsing forth of natures new life il
tie sprinRtide Of the year.
| This ase may have originated from
the fact. that ia the pagan cosmoRonies
the mundane EGG symboliEed the pro
duotion of a well-ordered world, the
eosBaas. out OF chaos.
when tue saxons we're Christianizsd
their Feast Of Eggs" Eas given a new
meaning, and the egg became the em
biem Of the resurrection aud Of a ia
ture life. The symbol has not lost it,
sacred siositi sancs IL the thoughtful
Christian. IL suggests 20 him not only
the resurrection, bat the long incaha
tion by which Tie, 90 whom thousand
years are a. bat one day, has seen tit "a
develop and dttfnse the religion OF the
| Risen One.
As the Omnipotent has limited him
self 10 lhe ase Of moral -uAsion In the
difusiRg Of Christianity, the process
requires ages. Long geological epochs
marked the creation and development
OF the world Of matter. The nes u o
raj creation must Alss 10 slow in in it,
cyolations, seeing that iI pro2re. ses only
As 10 persusdes man, as person, to be
come s Disciple OF ChIist.